//------------------------------//
// Party On 
// Story: Party Girl 
// by Digital Ghost 
//------------------------------//

A brightly colored costume was floating gingerly in the air, surrounded by an azure grip of magic. It stretched gently to iron out the creases before it was ceremoniously folded and stacked on top of others of its like. Another was placed on top of it a short while later by a pair of purple claws, and one last was added to the stack by pink hooves before the box was closed.

"And that's the last of it," Spike reported, dusting his hands off. "Alright, Pinkie, wrap it up!"

But before the dragon even finished his sentence, the pink mare was already on the job. A mini tornado had picked up the boxes of clothes along with some wrapping paper and some ribbons. When the storm stopped, a pyramid of brightly wrapped boxes sat in the middle of the room, with Pinkie Pie hopping down the construct with a wide grin upon her face. "That was fun! Can we do that again?" she chirped.

Rarity chuckled and trotted up to the boxes, taking a few with her magic. Just then, a knock came to the door. "I'm afraid not. The theater's staff are already here to take the costumes, but maybe next time."

Spike quickly ran up to the door and opened it to see a number of ponies in black vests with white letters on the back that spelled out "Staff."

The one closest to the opening looked in to see Rarity trotting up to them with a number of gifts. "Are these the costumes?" he asked as he took some of the boxes from the mare with his own magic.

"Yes, and the rest are in the back." Rarity moved to the side to show the crew, who then proceeded to move the boxes outside. When everything they came for was cleared out, the crew's leader handed Rarity an envelop which she took with a kind smile.

"I don't know how you do it, Miss Rarity," the crew leader started, "but once again, you completed our order on such short notice."

"Well I did have some very diligent helpers."

Spike and Pinkie waved, smiling. 

"Though," Rarity continued, "its a shame the tickets you gave us would be wasted." Applejack was busy with setting up another Apple family reunion. Rainbow Dash had signed up for the Wonderbolts' training camp. Fluttershy was helping control an outbreak of bird flu. And Twilight was doing research on the mirror pool for Princess Celestia. 

Rarity disliked going away to a place like Manehattan without all her friends, but she couldn't let her customers down. Twilight was kind enough to let Spike accompany her, and Pinkie Pie was more than eager to help out. Although, honestly, Rarity had doubts that her sanity would be able to take the over-energetic mare's erratic behavior, but Pinkie proved to be cooperative enough and was a really big help in making the costumes. She surprisingly even helped to make them look twice as fabulous.

"It can't be helped that your friends are busy. You could always give the tickets to some other friends of yours. As I hear, you're quite the generous mare."

"Oh," Rarity blushed, "I just do what feels right. Maybe I'll give Coco Pommel a try. She loves the classics."

With things settled, the crew left for the theater to begin the final preparations for the play, which was only two days away. Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike tidied up, and when they finished, Rarity brought out a tray of sweet treats, hot tea, and a large emerald for Spike.

"What are we going to do now, huh, huh, huh?" Pinkie hopped around as the sweets fueled her ever energetic personality.

Rarity put a hoof to her chin and pursed her lips in thought. "We need to head over to Coco's boutique first so we can invite her to come with us to the play, and maybe some of her friends might come too. There's no sense in letting the tickets go to waste. Then we can do what you want for the rest of the day. Think of it as a sort of thank you for helping me."

"Yay!" Pinkie cheered.





It was late afternoon when Pinkie, Rarity, and Spike left the amusement park. Pinkie was carrying a white teddy bear that she won at one of the game stands. It sat on her back, staying balanced despite her jittery movements as if some force was keeping it there.

"That was fun!" Pinkie declared. "Thanks for everything, Rarity."

"Thank nothing of it, darling." Rarity waved her hoof. "If it wasn't for you and Spike, I never would have finished the costumes in time. Its the least I could do."

As they waited for a empty taxi to hail, a large group of colorful balloons caught Pinkie's eye. The stallions holding the balloons were walking by when Pinkie suddenly burst out of the bunch, shouting, "Hiya!" 

This caused some of the helium-filled spheres to escape to the sky as the pale yellow unicorn, with a two-tone mane of black and white slicked back, in charge of them accidentally broke his grip for a split second when his heart jumped.

"See? I told ya getting extra balloons was a great idea!" The brown earth pony, with a green mane cut to the length of a brush's bristles, who was accompanying the balloon-carrying unicorn said, puffing out his chest proudly with an eyebrow raised.

Ignoring his companion, the unicorn turned to Pinkie, who was still inside the bunch of balloons. "Can I help you?" he asked, wisely choosing to also ignore the fact that the mare was floating.

"You've got a lot of balloons, are you going to a party?" Pinkie beamed them a smile that was returned with a soft nod.

"Yea. We're heading to a friend's birthday party."

"Oh I love parties! Can I come? I'm great with parties! I throw parties all the time in Ponyville!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"What kind of parties?" the earth pony inquired.

"All kinds! Birthday parties, wedding parties, anniversary parties, annibirthsary parties, parties for pets, after party parties, after after party parties..." She went on and on enumerating the different types of parties she had thrown over the years. All five thousand six hundred and seven. That she could remember.

While Pinkie was busying herself, Rarity had trotted up to the two stallions and apologized for the lost balloons before offering to pay for them. However, the two waved her offer off.

"We got plenty more to spare," the yellow unicorn said.

"But it just doesn't feel right. Surely there would be something we could do to make up for it," Rarity protested.

"No really, its fine. Losing fifteen or so balloons isn't something to work yourself over. Besides, they were basically freebies, so taking something for them wouldn't feel right either."

"Oh, how could I forget the stargazing party! Luna was so happy seeing the little colts and fillies watching her stars, I just had to throw a party!" Pinkie Pie's babbling began to go unnoticed as the three other ponies had their own conversation, but it didn't matter, the party pony was too preoccupied to pay attention anyway.

"May name is Rarity, and this is Pinkie Pie and Spike." Rarity motioned to her friends. Spike had a frown on his face from seeing the other unicorn getting friendly with the mare of his dreams, but he gave a weak wave just the same.

The earth pony reached out to shake Rarity's hoof, cutting off his friend's similar gesture. "My name's Lucky Hoof, and my friend here is Blurred Ace."

"It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"The pleasure is all ours." Ace smiled and bowed, winking at her as his head returned to eye level.

Just when Spike was about to 'accidentally' sneeze and set fire to the stallion's mane, a flurry of hooves came rushing from behind.

"Miss Rarity!" A voice shouted, causing all heads to turn, including Pinkie's. It was a trio of theater staff.

"Y-yes?" Rarity asked, recoiling a little from the skidding stop that could have happened a few trots in advance.

After taking a moment to catch her breath, the mare leading the small party exclaimed in panic: "The costumes!"

"What about the costumes?" Rarity asked in horror. Had she made some wrong stitches? Didn't the colors go well with the ponies who were going to wear them? The thought of her work not satisfying the customer was making her feel nervous.

"One of the costumes was caught on a nail and ripped! We tried to fix it ourselves, but now the costume looks horrible! The director is coming soon, and if he sees what we did, he's going to cancel the show! Can you come back to the theater with us, please?" The mare was almost pleading Rarity.

"There is no time to waste!" Rarity declared.

"I thought we were going to the party." Pinkie's ears dropped.

Rarity, knowing how much Pinkie loved parties, whether attending or hosting, decided to let her go with the stallions. They were nice enough, and Pinkie could take care of herself if there was any trouble. "Well, if you'd like to go, then I suppose its okay. Just be sure to get back to the hotel before it gets too dark, okay, Pinkie?"

"Okie Dokie Loki!" Pinkie jumped around in joy.

"W-wait when did—Ooof"

Ace kicked Lucky in the leg and excused themselves. "Come on, we could use a party pony like Pinkie here to liven up the place. You do remember the last time Gloomy Skies hosted a party, right?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. But are you sure Ember would be okay with this though?"

"Of course! Besides, she hated the last party. It was too bland, too boring. You and I both know Pinkie can make this the best party she has ever had! Or at the very least, make it feel less like a funeral."

"You bet this is going to be the best party your friend has ever had!" The pair heard the pink mare shout out. To their surprise, she was right in the middle of them with her hooves wrapped around their necks in a tight squeeze.

"When did you—" Lucky managed to say before the mare's cobra-like grip forbid him from even squeaking his words out.

When Pinkie Pie finally loosened her grip, the two stallions quickly took gasps of air. Thats when Rarity trotted up to them. "Would it be fine for you kind gentlecolts to let Pinkie accompany to your friends party? I'm sure she won't be too much trouble," said Rarity with a smile.

"Yeah, of course," Ace said in reply. "And we'll make sure to keep her out of trouble while we're there."

Good luck with that. Rarity mentally chuckled. "We'll I'll be off to help the theater ponies with the costumes. I trust you'll keep yourself from causing trouble, Pinkie?"

"You can count on me! When have I ever caused trouble?" Pinkie gave an innocent smile which was met with Rarity shaking her head.

With a good bye, Rarity went inside a taxi with the three ponies from the theater and left in a hurry.





"Is this the place?" asked Pinkie as they stopped in front of a door with a bright neon sign.

"Yup, this is the place," Lucky confirmed. "Uhh, what are you doing?"

Pinkie was wrestling with the door handle, pulling it, pushing it, and would have even kicked it if Ace hadn't pulled her back. 

"Please, allow me." Ace trotted up to the door and lifted his hoof up to level with his chest. He took a breath before he started tapping the metal door in a sequence. A small panel slid open, and out peered a pair of bored eyes. After taking a lazy scan of the three ponies outside, a bolt clicked from the inside and the door opened.

The pony who let them in was an earth pony built a lot like Bulking Biceps. He wore a black vest and his cutie mark was a velvet rope. 

"Hey, how you doin', Brick?" Lucky greeted the pony with a hoofbump.

"Eh, same old, same old. Who's the mare?" Brick asked.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" The party pony hopped up.

Brick raised a brow at the mare before turning to the two stallions. "She here to help with the party?" Lucky and Ace both nodded. "Good, cause it really needs a LOT of help right now. Go on in." He opened another door which led to a room lit by dim lamps and a laser light machine fixed on the ceiling.

"Took you two long enough." A gray pegasus floated down.

"We got a little sidetracked." Ace looked around and was visibly disappointed. "Do you need help with the party, Gloomy?" he asked, handing the balloons over.

"Looks that bad, huh?" Gloomy gave a nervous smile as he took the balloons. "I don't know why you always put me up to this. You know I don't have a talent for this kind of thing."

Lucky patted the pegasus lightly on the back. "Worry not, for we are here with a solution to all your problems. We'd like you to meet Pinkie—wait, where is she?"

They looked around the dim room, until Gloomy Skies pointed to an excited, pink, puffy-maned mare throwing streamers right through the metal scaffolding on the ceiling as the ponies who were supposed to be doing it watched in awe. "Is that who you wanted me to meet?"

"Yup." Ace smiled. "That's Pinkie pie."

Lucky leaned against Gloomy, putting just enough weight to keep the pegasus from straining himself too much. "She's a party girl from Ponyville."

"Ponyville? Oh yeah!" Gloomy clapped his hooves together. "I remember hearing about her. Her parties are said to be off the hook! How'd you get a hold of her?"

"We sorta just ran into her on our way here." Ace shrugged before he tried calling Pinkie Pie's attention. "Hey, Pinkie! I'd like you to meet somepony."

With ears perked up like radar dishes, she zoomed back to the ponies she came in with. "I love meeting new ponies just as much as I love parties!"

"Pinkie, I'd like you to meet Gloomy Skies. He's the party planner for our friend's birthday party. Gloomy, this is Pinkie Pie. She's a party planner from Ponyville with more than... uh... three, four thousand parties to her name." Ace lost count way before Pinkie even told a fraction of the parties she held, and he thought that a shot in the dark wouldn't matter much.

"It's nice meet you, Pinkie." Gloomy reached his hoof out, and Pinkie quickly took it and shook it like she was trying to get the pony's hairs to fall out of sheer vibration.

"I really love meeting new ponies! Oh silly me, I already said that. So where's the birthday pony? I can't wait to look at her face when she sees this place when its fully decorated!"

Gloomy's ears dropped. "Uhh... actually, it is fully decorated." He scratched the back of his head and kicked the floor. "You... you wouldn't possibly be able to help... would you?"

Pinkie jumped into the air and gasped in delight. "You want me to help decorate?!"

"If you wouldn't mind. I mean, you are a guest of Ace's, so I really have no right to ask—"

"Say no more!" the mare cut Gloomy off, "Pinkamena Diane Pie is on the case!" And with her announcement, she jumped into a nearby box which bounced around for a curious few moments before she burst out of it in a rain of confetti. Oddly enough, when she came out, she was wearing a camouflaged helmet, and some type of rainbow paint was on her cheeks.

"Huh... Didn't think we had that in there..."

With a serious look that didn't really fit with the festive decorations hanging from her mane, Pinkie said, with such resolve that it would have put the greatest military leaders to shame, "It's decorating time!"





It had been an hour and a half since the birthday celebrant, Ember Light, arrived and the party started, and still ponies were rejoicing at Pinkie and Gloomy's party setup. The food was great, the lights were brighter and moved around quicker than before, the music added a spring to everything they did, and of course the games! Most ponies in the club would have thought that the games Pinkie had set up would just be for foals, yet there they were, playing as if they were years younger. 

Pin the tail on pony was the first game they all played. At first the ponies shied away, but when they saw Pinkie happily playing with Gloomy, Ace, and Lucky, the rest soon joined in, no matter how embarrassing they thought it was. Indeed, there was something in the way the party pony did things that just made everything pop, made everything seem so surreal.

Ember Light, an earth pony with a faint red coat and black-dyed mane that fell over half of her right eye, approached Pinkie. "Thank you for helping with the party," she said with sincere gratitude. She looked around to see if Gloomy was nearby, before she leaned in to whisper, "To be honest, I thought this party would be a disaster, but thanks to you, I think Gloomy learned a thing or two on how to throw a real party. Don't tell him I said that though." Ember smiled.

"Aw, it was nothing," Pinkie said, beaming a wide grin, "all I did was add a few decorations and games. Gloomy did most of the planning."

Ember couldn't help but smile again. "Would you join us at the table? I think I have something to give you as thanks."

Pinkie happily hopped alongside Ember to a table at the corner of the room, populated by three other ponies. She recognized Ace and Lucky, but the third stallion was a new face. He was a unicorn that had a red coat that was a few shades darker than Ember's, and his mane was also black, but with a few streaks of orange.

"Pinkie, this is my big brother, Ash Crow. He works here as a bartender, and makes the best drinks in Manehattan."

"Equestria," Ash playfully corrected. "So you're the pony who made this party so awesome? It's nice to meet you." 

"This is your brother? Why didn't you tell me you had a brother? Two of my best friends have big brothers too." Turning to Ash, Pinkie took his outstretched hoof and shook it as gently as he did with Gloomy's. "It's so great to meet you!"

The group chatted for a while, exchanging stories and having a few drinks. When time had come for the party to end, and most of the ponies had left, leaving just the five of them, plus Gloomy, who joined after the party's closing, Ash used his magic to materialize a tray of shot glasses. The glasses all had the same liquid in them. It was orange and had a faint glow. Hearts and happy faces bubbled out from time to time like smoke.

"Oooooh, what's this?" inquired Pinkie, mesmerized by the strange concoction.

"This is my specialty," Ash explained with over-dramatized pride, "the best drink I have ever made, beating every other drink the finest of Canterlot can offer. It's a little rough to handle the first time, but trust me when I say, this is the juice of Aether's most heavenly fruit! I call it, the Gate to Paradise!"

"Cheers!" The ponies took a glass each and drank its contents in a single swig.

Electricity ran down every hair on Pinkie's body as chills traveled down her spine. She couldn't believe how good the drink was. It was very sweet, but had a trace of sourness that only enhanced the flavor even more. She could feel a wave of warmth from her chest followed by a tingling in the rest of her body. Soon, she found herself giggling. The others were too, as if somepony told a really good joke. The sudden, unexplained happiness felt really good, almost as good as the first time she ever threw a party for her family when she was just a filly.

A while later, the giggling died down, but the smiles remained.

"Now that's the stuff!" Ace exhaled as he rested his head on the back of the cushioned bench.

"What was that?" Pinkie asked. "It was the most amazing thing I ever had!"

"Aw shucks. It was nothing." Ash scratched the back of his head.

"Do you have any more?"

"Unfortunately no. I can only make a few a week, and those were the last," Ash apologized, but seeing how disheartened the party pony was, he just couldn't let her leave as she was. Not after what she'd done for Ember. "Come back tomorrow, maybe I can wrestle out some more shots."

Pinkie grinned widely and threw herself on the stallion, "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! Can you make two more for my friends too?"

"Of course, just bring them over tomorrow night."





In a cave hidden inside the Everfree, a collection of equipment was orderly scattered throughout the confines of its walls, taking readings and measurements of the ambient energies trapped within. A lone mare looked after these instruments, making sure they were working fine. They had been there for three days, and nothing was found to be out of the ordinary, however, Twilight was not finished with her research on the body of water that lay in the middle of the cave.

She had tried a number of spells to get any kind of reaction from the mirror pool, but so far, none of them even got a nibble. Looking at the clock she had brought, she noticed that it was already a few minutes to midnight. That must have been why she was yawning so much. Levitating her lamp, she trotted towards her sleeping bag. It worried her to be sleeping in the Everfree, but she couldn't risk missing anything that might happen while she was gone.

Fortunately, Zecora was kind enough to lend her an enchanted ward similar to the ones she had around her hut to protect her from the monsters of Everfree. Twilight had already tried to mimic the enchantment, but zebra magic was formed in a much different way than pony magic. It was a completely different maze to maneuver around in. Although that wouldn't have stopped her trying to understand it.

Twilight yawned again as she tucked herself inside her snug little bag. Tomorrow would be another day, hopefully it would be more fruitful.

Sometime past midnight, she awoke to a pulsating feeling in her horn. She jumped out of the sleeping bag and fixed her eyes on the pool. Her instruments caught some fluctuations in the cave's ambient energy, and she was straining her eyes to catch any physical anomalies that might form as she waited for her machines to print something about it.

It was but a faint glow, but she saw it. At first it was just a single orb the size of a foal floating leisurely above the surface of the water, but after the seconds waned, it soon divided itself into two in a way akin to cell division, which yielded two orbs of the same size as their parent. The new orbs soon danced around the surface like a pair of fireflies, gently rising every time they made a full circle.

Twilight watched in awe as she tried to formulate a reason to the strange display. But the show was not to last. After the orbs had gained height to level with the alicorn's eyes, they darted out the entrance. Twilight ran after them, but by the time she had reached the mouth of the cave, she could only see a tiny trail.

A compass and a map materialized in a flash of purple around her head and was quickly drawn in front of her. She quickly compared the trajectory of the orbs with her map and compass. She noticed that if they beelined to where ever they were going, their path, roughly, would pass Foal Mountain, Hollow Shades, Filly Delphia, and Manehattan.

They could have gone to any of these places, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of Twilight's mind that kept her eyes fixed on Manehattan. The orbs were pinkish, and had three smaller orbs floating inside them: two blue with a yellow one in between them. She couldn't help but think about Pinkie Pie, who was currently in Manehattan with Rarity.

It was possible that the mirror pool was attracted to the pink mare. After all the clones she made of herself that one crazy day, she was bound to leave a bit of essence in the pool. That would explain the orbs' appearance. But if her theory was correct, why did it just happen now? She tried to convince herself that it was probably a coincidence, but after a flashback of the Pinkie Armageddon, she couldn't risk a pair of Pinkie clones wrecking havoc on a busy city like Manehattan.

Looks like the situation called for a quick trip.